Brown moves to protect labor-friendly contracts

Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Thursday that would deny state construction funds to cities that have bans on labor-friendly development contracts, potentially affecting three local municipalities.

Chula Vista and Oceanside have bans on so-called project-labor agreements that were overwhelmingly approved by voters. City of San Diego voters will consider a similar ban under Proposition A on the June 5 ballot.

This is the second of two laws designed to keep local agencies from banning the contracts that set standards for wages, local hiring and health coverage for workers on a project — which usually lead to use of union labor. This bill prevents all charter cities — including those three local municipalities — from receiving state funds for projects if they ban the contracts in any way.

In October, Brown signed a similar bill aimed at all local governments that some argued left a loophole for charter cities to continue to receive state funds under certain circumstances even if they had bans. That first law could affect San Diego County, which has a voter-approved ban on the labor agreements.

The new measure, Senate Bill 829, gives cities until 2015 to repeal existing laws before they would lose state funding on all projects. It is unclear if that timeline would apply to San Diego if Proposition A is approved.

Critics of project-labor agreements say they increase the costs of projects, while supporters say they provide living wages and result in the hiring of local workers

In Sacramento, majority Democrats pushed through the bill on party-line votes earlier this month. The San Diego County delegation followed suit with Democrats in favor and Republicans against. In the Assembly, Nathan Fletcher, an independent from San Diego, and Martin Garrick, R-Solana Beach, did not record a vote.

Brown did not put out a statement when announcing the bill signing.

Bill author Sen. Michael Rubio, D-Bakersfield, defended his plan when the Senate debated the bill. He said the measure, in contrast to Republican claims, would give cities a choice between going with the labor-backed PLA or some other contract.

“There’s nothing in this bill that requires any local entity to sign into a project-labor agreement. It simply says that local governments should have the choice,” Rubio said.

The issue of local control was central to arguments from both sides.

“These communities are struggling to make ends meet,” Sen. Joel Anderson, R-La Mesa said. “We all know this is nothing more than a drill for special interests.”

The city of San Diego does not typically use project-labor agreements. Proponents of Proposition A say they are acting pre-emptively to ensure the city does not enter into the contracts in the future.

Bill Baber, the director of government affairs for the Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc., one of the groups that financially backed the signature drive, said he is certain voters will approve Proposition A regardless of the new law.

“This is the state legislature’s attempt at undermining the San Diego electoral process,” he said. “We think San Diego voters are too smart for that.”

Local labor leader Lorena Gonzalez said it was important for the state to step in to ensure cities continue to have the option available to them for big projects.

“A PLA is the only way to ensure a local-hire agreement,” said Gonzalez, secretary-treasurer of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council. “PLAs aren’t useful in every instance — you wouldn’t want to have one to put up a new stop sign — but they should be available for current leaders to decide.”

Jan Goldsmith, San Diego’s city attorney, said he could not comment on the new law and how it might affect Proposition A if it passes. But he said his office would defend the proposition if it is approved and provide legal guidance on its implementation.

The state funding awarded to the city of San Diego for various projects in 2010 was $36 million and $158 million in 2011, according to the city’s fiscal impact analysis of Proposition A.

Calls to Chula Vista and Oceanside officials for comment were not returned.

Aside from banning project labor agreements, the proposition also would require the mayor to post all construction contracts over $25,000 online.